5 Holiday Party Hacks!

This ‘5 Holiday Party Hacks!‘ article was developed for Collective Bias, and NESTLÉ®. Mama Loves Food has been compensated for the associated time and work. All opinions are mine alone. #EasterEssentials #CollectiveBias

Easter is rapidly approaching, and I know some of you out there are getting sweaty palms thinking about how everything will come together. I’m here to tell you. It’s okay! We’ll get through it. And things will be fabulous!

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Here’s my five point primer on how to get through your holiday party without losing (too much) sleep:

1. EDIT

Do you *really* need to make individualized hand crafted paper mache eggs for each guest? No! Goodness, heavens, no. I so wish the party favor trend would go away. Your friends and family are not coming for the parting gift, they’re coming to see you! And spend time with you! So, get off Pinterest, throw some mini chocolates in a bowl on the table and skip the goodbye goodie bags.

2. EDIT MORE

Seriously, I see you eyeing those fancy souffle recipes. The ones you have to make during the party and watch closely, lest all your efforts go to waste. Please take those off the menu. Save them for a small dinner gathering when your friends are in the kitchen with you and everyone’s making food together. This is a big holiday party! Choose a few simple foods that will go over with a crowd and forget about anything that will keep you from enjoying your guests’ company.

3. LET YOUR KIDS DECORATE

For Thanksgiving last year, I printed a bunch of black & white pictures of our guests and put them on the table in a stack with a bunch of crayons and some tape. I told the kids to go wild and after an hour or so the house was decorated with fun colorful pictures of all the people we were there to celebrate. With almost no effort on my part. For Easter you could print out eggs or rabbits for them to color. For St. Patrick’s Day print some shamrocks and leprechauns. Easy peasy! It may not look like you had a professional decorator in, but it’s much more fun and creates great memories. Not to mention, keeps the kiddos busy for a bit!

4. ASK FOR HELP

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again (and again, and again). There’s no shame in asking for help. Whether it’s having your mom come over in the days before to give you a hand hiding folding laundry (I’m not the only one with a designated laundry couch, right?), or asking each guest to bring a dish. Please, make sure you’re not doing it alone. If you like these people enough to celebrate with them, then I’m pretty sure they like you enough to help you put on the party.

5. TAKE IT EASY

Don’t kill yourself before the party and then be too tired to enjoy it. I’m so totally guilty of having done this. You work your tail off to make everything *just perfect* and then by the time guests arrive, you can barely keep your eyes open. Have macaroni and cheese the night before. Grab some of that fake silverware instead of spending hours polishing the good stuff. Soak in the bath and listen to music. But whatever you do, don’t stay up until 3am folding napkins into swans. Please.

Have you seen Stouffer’s new Mac Cups, yet? This is a fun solution for taking it easy at meal time in the days before a big party. My boys fought over who got the chili cheese mac, and my daughter had her sights squarely fixed on the bacon.

“STOUFFER’S® Mac & Cheese whenever you please! STOUFFER’S® Mac Cups are now available in three, NEW! Varieties: Pepperoni Pizza, Chili Cheese and Buffalo-style! All varieties are made with a 100% real cheddar cheese sauce and come in packs of 2. Find all varieties in the freezer aisle with STOUFFER’S® Single Serve Entrées!”

We also love the Nestle assorted minis for a quickie dessert without any hassle. I grabbed the mac and cheese cups along with the chocolate on a quick Walmart run. My favorite treat is BUTTERFINGER® (mmmmm), what’s yours?

The more summer party ideas I find the more I am learning about throwing a good holiday party. It is always a good idea to write down such tips or putting them on a computer. Because many times you will find yourself preparing for a party in a hurry.